What really leads to success? Analyst Richard St. John spent seven years interviewing 500 successful TED speakers and conference goers to find the traits successful people all have in common. He ended up narrowing their responses to these eight traits, condensed to a short 3-minute video.

My favorite of the bunch involves persistence:

You gotta persist through failure. You gotta persist through crap! Which of course means ‘Criticism, Rejection, Assholes and Pressure'.

If the video leaves you wanting more, St. John has written a book on these eight success traits. He also offers a "Rate Your 8 Traits" self evaluation sheet and wallpapers on his blog.